


drifting

by schnaf



Series: im-prompt-u challenge [15]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: ?? i have no clue, Biopunk, M/M, Sci Fi AU, i give up on finding fitting descriptions for these fics, it could be sci fi??, slightly disturbing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:20:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27029485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schnaf/pseuds/schnaf
Summary: Dan is in love. But his love is confined to a place with blue dim and an electrical hum.
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Series: im-prompt-u challenge [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1969618
Comments: 10
Kudos: 12
Collections: Im-PROMPT-u Phandom Creator Challenge 2020





	drifting

**Author's Note:**

> phew, this project takes me to PLACES. but no, this time it isn't nature :D

'Yeah, I'm really sorry I can't be with you. I'd rather hang out with you guys :/'

Dan smiles wryly as he sends the message. What a smooth liar he can be... He's not particularly keen on hanging out with his friends - but he is way more so inclined to hanging out with Phil.

Well, whatever. Work awaits. Dan puts his phone back into his pocket and gets out his keycard. He's done with the inspection round through the regular part of the hospital, now it's time to enter the special ward.

Finally.

The soft beep signals him that the door is unlocked. He pushes it open and enters the hallway. Darkness awaits him - darkness, emptiness, silence. There's just a faint blue-ish light, not enough to actually illuminate the hallway, opposed to the glaring neon lights outside the door. Oh, and the hum. The familiar hum Dan only notices when he enters the ward. After a few moments, it blends in.

Dan's smile turns sincere. Yes, that's actually where he wants to be. Not in Tyra's crowded living room, squeezed on the sofa with the quilted blankets between several people, their chatter tearing on his nerves, but... Right here.

There's no need for him to get out his flashlight, he knows the way well enough to rely on the dim blue glow. Thus, it takes him just a few steps to enter the main room, the room the light is coming from.

Dan's gaze darts across the room. Everything looks normal, there's nothing out of the ordinary. No red lights, no blinking lights, just the blue glow and -

A soft gurgling sound.

Dan takes a deep breath, he closes his eyes. When he accepted the job as security guard at the local hospital, he thought it would be yet another boring job, just sitting around, waiting for the time to pass... The part with the special ward did sound a bit weird in the beginning, yes, still he considered it to be a boring job. Well, now he knows better. Now, he values the job, particularly the special ward part. Compared to the bustling streets outside... He enjoys the quiet.

Okay. Time to get to work. Dan enters the first row of tanks, his fingers trailing across the glass. Sure, his supervisor told him he didn't have to trace any cracks, after all that's what the computer system does, but somehow, it feels good, it feels like he's actually doing something, not just checking. Creeping. Whatever.

Nothing out of the usual. One floating body after another, some have their eyes closed, some gaze off into the distance... And yet, Dan's heart rate increases with every step.

Every step he takes is one step closer to Phil.

And then - there it is. The exception. Phil's tank. This isn't your usual tank occupant, not another drifting body, almost liveless. No, Phil is different and he was so from the first time on Dan saw him.

He smiles as he gets closer, reaching out, putting his hand on the glass.

"Hey, Phil."

Phil says nothing. He just stares at him with his piercing blue eyes, his hair softly floating in the water. Still, Dan knows he heard him, still, Dan feels like he's happy to see him too.

Then, all out of the blue, he drifts forward, putting his hand right above Dan's and even though the pane of glass separates them, it's almost as if they'd actually touch.

It's their way to say hi.

It was so strange, meeting Phil for the first time. Well, working with all these people here overall was strange and yes, for him, patrolling the room counts as working with them. Until he got the job, he knew about people like Phil, he knew that sometimes, babies were born adjusted to life underwater, unable to breathe air. He also knew there was a special ward for these people at his local hospital because there's no way a regular person could afford a human-sized tank with everything that came with it.

But actually seeing them made it so much more tangible, made it so much more real. Seeing them drifting in their tanks...

And then, he met Phil. That's when he properly realized for the first time that they were people. People just like him, with a family, just like him, the only difference being an anomaly at birth.

For a while, they just look at each other, Phil with his never changing stern expression, Dan still smiling - not because he wants to impress Phil, not because he wants to come across as a nice guy, but because he feels like it, because he feels so happy when he's with Phil.

Then, he puts his bag on the floor, sitting down next to it, getting out his display. There's no need to look back, he knows without looking that Phil drifts down, that Phil hurdles up against the glass even though it's not necessary - he does it to be closer to Dan, he does it so there's no distance between them anymore, just this cursed pane of glass.

Still, Dan turns around. Yes, he's right, Phil's there, lifting his head and looking him in the eye.

"I brought another episode of Buffy today. I know, I promised something new but the series I had in mind didn't have subtitles. But you don't bother, do you? I know you like Buffy the best." Dan rambles - and yes, it feels so much like rambling because his voice echoes in the silence, cutting through the monotonous hum, the monotonous gurgle of the tanks. But at the same time, it doesn't. Because he knows Phil is listening, because he hopes Phil understands him.

Thus, he gets out the tablet he brought with him. Doing some work for uni, that's what he told the security guy at the entry when he asked about the electrical device. Doing some work for uni... Oh, if only he knew Dan has no interest in doing some work for uni at all when he's here. No, he uses it to play the next episode of Buffy and when he starts it, Dan is so sure he can actually feel the water moving behind him even though that's impossible.

His thoughts start drifting away within the first minutes of the episode. Dan rests his head against the glass, he turns a bit to be able to look at Phil. His gaze is focused on the display, he's following the events on the screen so Dan can just look at him, take in his features, get lost in his thoughts...

He loves Phil. It feels strange, it feels wrong, after all he never heard Phil utter a single word. But they have their own ways to communicate, their own unique ways and they touch his heart more than an actual "I love you" from another person would. It feels wrong, after all they can never be together, they will be forever separated by the glass, by the fact that one of them can breathe underwater and one of them can breathe air. But sitting here at night, spending time together, being close, means so much to Phil. It feels wrong because strangers outside this hospital tell him that people like Phil aren't actually people. But Phil is the person he likes most.

He loves Phil. And he cherishes every single night he can spend at the special ward, surrounded by the blue dim and the electrical hum.


End file.
